Middelburg
Yesterday I stopped journaling right before the bro and I were about to head into town.
Presently, I'm in a town called Middelburg. It's the place where my brother has been going to school. It's a very cute town full of laid back and pleasant people, great architecture, and some pretty awesome food.
The bro and i headed into the main market area where there's a lot of shops, cafes, and his and his housemate's schools. Our first stop, however, was to get something to eat. We went to a little sandwich shop called "Kippie" and got some seriously awesome sandwiches (and I got some strawberry juice). What has made food here so amazing thus far has been that it's all fresh. Very little food is processed over here and a great deal of the produce sold is raised locally. People go shopping very regularly because food spoils due to the lack of preservatives, which may seem like a pain to some but actually means hat the food going into our bodies here is a LOT better for us.
After Kippie, we went around the market a little bit before heading to the grocery store. Grocery stores here are sweet because pretty much all of them offer free coffee for you to drink while you're walking around the store. XD We got a few things to make stir fried rice before heading back to the apartment.
At the apartment, I met the bro's housemate "Roy". He's a pretty cool guy and amazes me by being able to put up with my brother's antics. XD The bro billy goated the poor guy, for crying out loud! Roy was very gracious in singing a local song for us about "soft Gs and hard dicks". XD Basically, the Dutch pronounce their "g"s very softly... but have hard dicks? That's pretty much what the song is about. XD
We ate dinner and I helped the bro sort through a few things before having a very rough night of sleep. n_n' Woke up several times feeling like I was ready to start the day. n_n'
This morning, we all got up and had English breakfast together. This consisted of toast with eggs and beans with tomato sauce. Then we headed out into the rain to the bro's last day of class - which consisted of one class where he summed up a report he had written the night before. It was pretty interesting, actually! He had written a report on the opera movement in New Orleans. I also got to meet the jerk who has been giving my brother a difficult time with his living accommodations. I've been told that my bro had a very hard time settling in when he first arrived because his apartment was a wreck and literally nothing was provided for him like it had been promised to him, and when the bro confronted this particular college staffer about it, they were very unsympathetic. Then the same person started asking my brother for handouts in the forms of paying for a bike that didn't work and donations of things my brother had to buy himself for the apartment. Luckily, my brother can fend for himself pretty well and hasn't been giving in to the guy at all. ;3
Then we got lunch at the bookstore where I had some stinking good pea soup. the bro wasn't too fond of it, but i really enjoyed it. XD The rest of our time spent that morning was mostly of the bro following me around the shops in the market square. The clothing here is super cute, but none of it really looks like anything that would look good on me. I did buy a really nice scarf, though!
After a stop back at the apartment and a snack of left over stir fry, we went to a different area to look in a hardware store for a particular souvenir, then peeked in a McD's to see how different it was than the US variety (not much except for McShrimp Poppers), then to another grocery store for things for tonight's dinner.
We returned to the apartment to try and sort out our plans for our up and coming trip around Germany while the rain continued to sprinkle outside. When i noticed the sun come out, though, I suggested we go looking for windmills. XD It was a really beautiful ride through Middelburg to find them! We snapped a few pictures around town, then rode around the school that Roy goes to before going to meet with some of the people my bro knew through the school. They seemed like an interesting bunch. n_n' Once we parted from them, we rode to a domed church and past the boy scout building. XD
Now we're back at the apartment where we're going to be planning the rest of our Germany trip, get things in the apartment ready for the bro to move out, and make Dutch pancakes. :9
Not sure how much I'll be able to update after this point as we will seriously be traveling without any knowledge of where or when we might get wifi - but the rest of the trip is hopefully going to be a lot of fun! Tomorrow, we're starting the day off with a trip to the market for their "Market Day" - so I'm pretty excited!
I must say, Middelburg is a pretty sweet place. :3
Presently, I'm in a town called Middelburg. It's the place where my brother has been going to school. It's a very cute town full of laid back and pleasant people, great architecture, and some pretty awesome food.
The bro and i headed into the main market area where there's a lot of shops, cafes, and his and his housemate's schools. Our first stop, however, was to get something to eat. We went to a little sandwich shop called "Kippie" and got some seriously awesome sandwiches (and I got some strawberry juice). What has made food here so amazing thus far has been that it's all fresh. Very little food is processed over here and a great deal of the produce sold is raised locally. People go shopping very regularly because food spoils due to the lack of preservatives, which may seem like a pain to some but actually means hat the food going into our bodies here is a LOT better for us.
After Kippie, we went around the market a little bit before heading to the grocery store. Grocery stores here are sweet because pretty much all of them offer free coffee for you to drink while you're walking around the store. XD We got a few things to make stir fried rice before heading back to the apartment.
At the apartment, I met the bro's housemate "Roy". He's a pretty cool guy and amazes me by being able to put up with my brother's antics. XD The bro billy goated the poor guy, for crying out loud! Roy was very gracious in singing a local song for us about "soft Gs and hard dicks". XD Basically, the Dutch pronounce their "g"s very softly... but have hard dicks? That's pretty much what the song is about. XD
We ate dinner and I helped the bro sort through a few things before having a very rough night of sleep. n_n' Woke up several times feeling like I was ready to start the day. n_n'
This morning, we all got up and had English breakfast together. This consisted of toast with eggs and beans with tomato sauce. Then we headed out into the rain to the bro's last day of class - which consisted of one class where he summed up a report he had written the night before. It was pretty interesting, actually! He had written a report on the opera movement in New Orleans. I also got to meet the jerk who has been giving my brother a difficult time with his living accommodations. I've been told that my bro had a very hard time settling in when he first arrived because his apartment was a wreck and literally nothing was provided for him like it had been promised to him, and when the bro confronted this particular college staffer about it, they were very unsympathetic. Then the same person started asking my brother for handouts in the forms of paying for a bike that didn't work and donations of things my brother had to buy himself for the apartment. Luckily, my brother can fend for himself pretty well and hasn't been giving in to the guy at all. ;3
Then we got lunch at the bookstore where I had some stinking good pea soup. the bro wasn't too fond of it, but i really enjoyed it. XD The rest of our time spent that morning was mostly of the bro following me around the shops in the market square. The clothing here is super cute, but none of it really looks like anything that would look good on me. I did buy a really nice scarf, though!
After a stop back at the apartment and a snack of left over stir fry, we went to a different area to look in a hardware store for a particular souvenir, then peeked in a McD's to see how different it was than the US variety (not much except for McShrimp Poppers), then to another grocery store for things for tonight's dinner.
We returned to the apartment to try and sort out our plans for our up and coming trip around Germany while the rain continued to sprinkle outside. When i noticed the sun come out, though, I suggested we go looking for windmills. XD It was a really beautiful ride through Middelburg to find them! We snapped a few pictures around town, then rode around the school that Roy goes to before going to meet with some of the people my bro knew through the school. They seemed like an interesting bunch. n_n' Once we parted from them, we rode to a domed church and past the boy scout building. XD
Now we're back at the apartment where we're going to be planning the rest of our Germany trip, get things in the apartment ready for the bro to move out, and make Dutch pancakes. :9
Not sure how much I'll be able to update after this point as we will seriously be traveling without any knowledge of where or when we might get wifi - but the rest of the trip is hopefully going to be a lot of fun! Tomorrow, we're starting the day off with a trip to the market for their "Market Day" - so I'm pretty excited!
I must say, Middelburg is a pretty sweet place. :3